After dropping a close battle to No. 2 Stanford on December 18, Tennessee began an over week-long break that spanned over the holidays.

Despite the time away from action, the Lady Vols (8-6) showed no sign of rust in their 92-53 win over Wofford (9-4) on Tuesday.

This impressive play started immediately. Tennessee jumped out to a 22-0 lead to begin the game. The Lady Vols would ultimately win the quarter 24-4. They shot 52.9% from the field and 44.4% on 3-pointers in the period.

In the opening frame, the Terriers failed to score until there were under two minutes left. Their first field goal wasn't connected on until 36 seconds remained. They shot an abysmal 6.7% from the field in the quarter.

This defense translated throughout the rest of the game. Wofford struggled from the field as Tennessee's height and athleticism caused too many issues for the Terriers. They would finish the match with a poor shooting percentage of 27.9% from the field and 20.7% from behind the arch.

"I think that that's just been a really big thing that we've been focusing on," said Lady Vol forward Karoline Striplin on the defense. "It was really nice to see that pay off. Obviously, we came up short against Stanford. So I think that this game we were really focusing on it. I hope that's going to be the case in the future, too."

Playing a big role in the defensive effort was Jasmine Franklin. The reserve forward has continually stepped up in Tamari Key's absence, and Tuesday's game was no different. Despite being undersized for her position, she caused opposing post players problems. She also muscled her way to eight offensive rebounds, two defensive rebounds, a block and a steal.

On top of the stifling defense, the Lady Vols' offense stayed dominant for the majority of the match, as well. In the first three quarters, Tennessee shot 55.7% from the field and 52.4% on 3-pointers. These numbers fell in the fourth quarter but it's worth noting that inexperienced players off the bench played a large share of the final minutes.

"There were so many possessions today that I was just so proud of," said Tennessee coach Kellie Harper. "I couldn't cheer enough for them. They came to the bench and I was like, 'Great ball movement!' It got us open shots. It got us good looks. Obviously, when you're taking those rhythm shots, you're shooting a higher percentage."

This remarkable offensive outburst was led by a collection of scorers. Leading the way was Rickea Jackson with 16 points. She reached this total on 5-for-9 shooting from the field and 1-for-2 shooting on 3-pointers. She also added six rebounds and an assist in her 18 minutes of play. While coming off the bench, she posted a +/- of +14, as well.

Besides Jackson, the team saw positive offensive performances from a majority of the 14 players to touch the court. However, it was Jordan Horston, Tess Darby, Justine Pissott and Kaiya Wynn that stood out.

Horston got her day started early by scoring the team's first seven points of the contest. She slowed down from there — scoring 13 points throughout the entire game. However, she also added four rebounds, a block and a steal in her 14 minutes of play.

Darby and Pissott's production came from an onslaught of 3-point attempts. The pair combined for 20 points on six made 3-pointers. Darby was responsible for 11 along with four rebounds and two assists. Pissott made her impact in the second quarter while knocking down three consecutive triples. The freshman's mark of three deep range makes marks her new career-high.

Lastly, Wynn did her damage in the waning moments of the game. While leading the group of largely inexperienced players in the fourth quarter, she took control of the offense. This resulted in seven points in the period and nine on the day in her 11 minutes on the court.

Tennessee will now hope to build off of this extraordinary outing as it enters SEC play. Despite an underwhelming beginning to the year, a solid stretch to finish the season will likely place the Lady Vols back into the NCAA Tournament picture. A win of this caliber could spark the confidence needed to make that happen.

"It's like a new season," said Horston on the beginning of the SEC slate. "We get to like start over. We want to start the season off with a win. We didn't get to do that this year so we'd like to start the conference off with a win."

Tennessee will travel to Gainesville to face Florida in its conference opener on Thursday. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. ET and it will air on SEC Network+.

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